WWE 2K14 review – change of management

The series has been in desperate need of a reboot for years but is that what this year’s sequel delivers? In the first new WWE game from publisher 2K Sports.

WWE 2K14 is probably one of the best illustrations of just how restrictive the schedule of yearly sequels is to making a high quality video game. When THQ went bust early this year there was a rush from other publishers to pick up the WWE wrestling licence. 2K (aka Take-Two Interactive, owners of Rockstar Games) emerged as the new owners and wrestling fans began to look forward to a brand new approach to wrestling games. Except WWE 2K14 is by exactly the same developer as always…

To be fair this is a reasonable improvement on the last few WWE games, but how much – if anything – that has to do with the change of publisher we’re not sure. Especially as one of its key features is, much like last year’s game, wallowing in nostalgia. Instead of just the Attitude Era though WWE 2K14 seeks to celebrate 30 years of WrestleMania, with the most iconic wrestlers and matches from WWE history all mixed up in the same game.

That does mean of course that you have to be a gamer of a certain age to fully appreciate everything that WWE 2K14 has to offer. But even younger fans must surely know who Randy Savage and Hulk Hugan are, and if they really don’t then the 30 Years of WrestleMania mode is here to teach them.

As the only sport with a pre-scripted storyline, presentation is very important in the WWE games and that’s something that 2K14 gets exactly right. Of course there is each wrestler’s signature entrance theme and costume to be replicated but the game doesn’t stop at a quick intro and outro cut scene. Each fight in the WrestleMania mode is based on a specific fight and if you complete in-game objectives – usually the right move at the right time – then extra mini-cut scenes will kick in that match up exactly with the real history, such as Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior’s famous dual-clothesline.

But even if you don’t remember any of these events from the first time round – in fact even if you don’t like wrestling – the way the game mixes gameplay with short cut scenes of just a few seconds length is hugely impressive. It’s not at all as jarring as you might think and so successful at mixing straight gameplay with pre-scripted story elements you can’t help but wish other games would find a way to use similar techniques.

The inevitable problem though is that 2K14’s fighting system is nowhere near as refined and interesting as its storytelling. It’s still heavily based on counterattacks, which means that even when you’re dominating a match you still don’t feel you’re entirely in control of it. Ordinary punches and kicks lack weight and the tempo is set much too fast, which not only seems unrealistic but leaves little time for any real strategising.

WWE 2K14 (360) – meet the new boss, same as the old boss

All of this results in some very disjointed matches, where the only real strategy is to wait until someone else attacks you and then hope you’re quick enough pressing the counter button to turn it back on them. Which is not exactly the sort of high stakes tactical battle that a good wrestling game should really be inspiring. Wrestling’s winners might be predetermined before a fight but the athleticism and choreography is real, and that just doesn’t come across in what often seems like nothing more than overblown quick time events.

Things are even worse when playing the computer, as the artificial intelligence is still as weirdly pacifist as usual – as it constantly fails to finish you off when it clearly had the chance.

You need no better evidence for how unsophisticated the game’s combat is than when you try a four-man bout, at which point you can only politely wrestle one opponent at a time – as everyone stumbles about the ring not quite sure how the game is determining who gets to hit who and when. But the game seems just as unsure, both in terms of the still terrible collision detection and the always inaccurate commentary.

You’re certainly not short of content though, with returning play modes such as Universe letting you play as a virtual Vince McMahon and schedule your own fights and create your own dramas and feuds. But despite the good work in the main WrestleMania mode the separate option to try and recreate The Undertaker’s unbroken run of victories is a disappointment, and not nearly such a stickler for historical accuracy.

However, the character creation tool remains not only one of the most powerful in all gaming but also the most entertaining, thanks to the amusingly bizarre physical freaks you can create and then play as.

But none of this even begins to address WWE 2K14’s key problem: that it’s not a very good fighting game. There’s no reason why it couldn’t be – much older WWE games certainly have been – but for there to be serious improvement 2K are going to have to initiate serious change. If not their stewardship of WWE is going to be left relying on nostalgia and little else.

In Short: The change of publisher has not yet ensured a change in quality for WWE games, although the 30 Years of WrestleMania mode is definitely of interest for long term fans.

Pros: 30 Years of WrestleMania is excellent, with some innovative use of cut scenes that could teach other action games a thing or too. Plenty of other game modes and wrestlers, as well as the always excellent character customisation tool.

Cons: The fighting is still nowhere near good enough and is not only lacking in tactics but runs at too fast a pace. The usual graphical and AI issues. The commentary is still rubbish and most of the returning game modes have changed little.